Is the current rockets team really a 'YAO' away from a true contender?

point taken, good post. i feel battier is the glue of the team with all his credentials it just spreads all over the team. bosch is a better presence down low than yao so the statement about if yao goes down the rockets will still be contenders because scola and bosch are beasts and bosch's atheleticism and scoring and fastbreak ability will suit the rockets better than yao who will slow the team down. keep yao by all means and can you say dynasty?

 

em.....very objective!!!

 

We need to flip Jeffries and Ariza + 2010 lotto pick for Al Jefferson.

Yao/Jefferson (when Yao is out)/Hayes/DA
Jefferson/Scola/Hill
Battier/Budinger
Martin/Brooks
Brooks/Lowry

 

I dont think that gets Jefferson.

 

i'm really shocked at how many think we're a "Yao away" ... or maybe we just disagree on what constitutes a "true contender".

 

Deepest team with Yao?

Potential 2011 roster (assuming no pipedream bosh-type signings occur):

Yao/Drafted Big/Andersen
Scola/Hill/Hayes
Ariza/Battier
Martin/Budinger/Taylor
Brooks/Lowry

I'm assuming we draft one of the many upside bigs with the 12-16th pick and retain lowry, scola and hayes. Combinations of this lineup could be murder on teams.

Offense:
Starters - Our offense the last 4 years has been "throw it to yao on the block and watch him score with ease, or kick it out to a shooter if doubled". This will be much more effective this year with brooks and martin shooting. If the double comes from the weak side, martin/ariza slashing to the basket (yao is a great passer) is a great option. If Yao recieves too much attention or gets fronted, swing to the weakside and set up scola on the block (where often scores on better athletes). If all else fails let brooks/martin jack up a 3 off a pick or brooks/martin penetrate with quickness to score, create or draw a foul (not bad 4th or 5th options). Even assuming Yao is a shell of himself (12-15 pts, 8 reb), that's more than enough production with the weapons we have now.

Bench - Bring in lowry to create for others, push the ball and draw fouls. Bring in budinger for instant offense, 3 point shooting, cutting/slashing/finishing. Bring in Hill at the 4 or 5 to run the pick and roll and for athleticism inside. Hopefully Drafted Big can spell Yao for extended minutes and provide an inside scoring presence. Go small uptempo with lowry/brooks/martin combo. Go big with lowry/budinger/ariza/hill/drafted big. Or my personal favorite lowry/martin/budinger/scola/hill. Theres alot of options and combinations and i'm not saying that all of them will work but we know RA will get the most out of his players.

Defense:
Starters - With Yao inside our defense will be vastly improved. Brooks/Martin may be a liability but with ariza, scola, yao we should be good enough to let our offense win us games and our defense not LOSE them for us. The quickness of brooks/martin/ariza in the passing lanes should get us some turnovers to run the break.

Bench - We are a deep team defensively. Ariza is capable of containing the league's best scorers and you're spelling him with battier (has lost a step but did he ever really rely on athleticism?) and budinger who i believe will become a plus team defender. Come in with hayes/hill/drafted big for added inside defense. Bring in lowry if brooks is getting abused by a bigger pg. Of course, combinations will have to be sorted out but we have stoppers at every position (except SG but Ariza/Battier will be on the better SGs).

As you can see, adding yao to what we have now, and giving our rookies and new players another year to develop and learn the system, we could be a very deep team AS IS. However, we all know DM will violate a team or 2 this summer and this roster will look much different, perhaps with a superstar?

 

I think we need to start Hill for D at pf if were going to start AB/Martin back court.

 

I voted no because of Yao's injury history. I have zero confidence Yao will be able to finish any of the seasons that he remains on the team. For that reason we need a person who can play beside him and spell him while he is on the bench resting or injured. Bosh would fit that bill however I think there is a good chance that Jordan Hill could be the answer. Yao definitely helps this team but unfortunately he is a injury waiting to happen.

 

We need a good PG. Obviously, AB is not.

 

AB is probably the most talented PG we have had years.

 

In addition to Yao, the Rockets are a long athletic defensive minded big (who can play/guard either the 4 or 5) away from being a contender.

And even so, they must acquire one w/out disrupting their core (Yao, Brooks, Martin, Scola, Lowry, Budinger) next season (via draft, trade or FA signing).

 

This team almost beat the champion Lakers. If Yao n Mutombo were still available, dont know what the outcome would have been. Martin is better than Artest. Scola is getting better every year. Brooks getting better every year. Now Rockets have good supporting cast in Lowry, Budinger n Ariza. Another above average SF(not a superstar) and Rockets r contenders. All this depends on if Yao n Martin and most of role players stay healthy.

 

It's hard to vote yes or not since the question is centered (pun intended) on Yao. None of us know how he will be able to play next season.

But I think it might very well work out that Lowry becomes the starter with Yao's return. I think half of these last games that were lost in the last few minutes (with the Rockets up, to boot) would have been wins with Lowry finishing those games. Brooks can provide a similar spark off the bench that Adelman seems to love about Lowry. With Lowry it's his aggressiveness that changes things. With Brooks it will be his speed.

As far as scoring, assuming Yao is able to play as in the past, you have Yao, Scola, and Martin, all being able to demand a double-team. And Battier and/or Budinger will have more open 3's with Yao in the post. So offense shouldn't suffer with Lowry starting. Besides, he'll get his share of points and more free throws than Brooks. Yao, Martin and Lowry will live and thrive off the free-throw line at the end of games.

I can even see it being possible to not really assign a starting PG. Play whomever is most appropriate for the team your facing each night. I really don't think Brooks or Lowry would have a problem with that kind of situation.

I would lean more toward a "Yes" under these circumstances.

 

We are still a point guard away from being contenders.
We need to have 3 NBA ready point guards on the team at all times.
Even if we had Yao right now we would have still lost alot of games when Kyle went down.

We need to have a third point guard in the roation wheather it be through the draft free agency or trade.

The don't need to be starter level I would even settle for the just bringing Sergio over but he has contract issues right now.

My real point here is that we need be 3 deep at every position incase we have a injury it does not kill the season.

 

Rockets have no superstar so no. Superstars win games, Kobe, LeBron, Duncan, etc. All the top teams have a superstar.

 

This is an example of a truly awful post. I am sorry MambaJoe, but you are evaluating Yao in terms of everything except the man's skill. We may not know how he will return or when, but if he does, we have a pretty good idea of the player we will get.

He will be 7"5', have pretty good touch and hands, likely be the heaviest player in the league, and will constantly set the meanest screens, at the very least. You are not dealing with a true unknown here, so stop acting so dismissive. There is working room here, but the road is long.

Don't bring that unbridled, ESPN-colored, half-assed, regurgitated cynicism in here without backing it up, Mamba No. 5.

How good the Magic, Lakers, Celtics look has absolutely nothing to do with the big guy, his hands, his feet and how his injury will affect all that.

Again, Yao is Yao and you will lose all he can give you if you expect to conform to your erroneous expectations. Tim Duncan is not Yao. Yao cannot be expected to be Kevin Garnett. Dwight Howard is also a separate player. I'm not going to even go into how Yao has b!tched each of these players when matched 1 on 1.

 

Talented Scoring Point Guard not Playmaking Point Guard. Possibly will improve playmaking in a couple of years. Let us hope so!

 

In the years I've been following basketball, Hakeem and yao have been my favorite players, but I'm just tired of having to rely on the if* factor with yao.
There is no doubt on my mind that yao is a winner and has the "It" factor. Those last minutes against the lakers in game one, that sequence outside the hallway with the trainer, all that was something special.
If* Yao had been on any other team, that sequence would have made it to a "where nba happens" promo..ahh there is that word if* again.

The curse has to be reversed.
Maybe the following will work:
we bring Sam and horry as consultants, retire that bear and bring back turbo. Murphy replaces drexler, drexler moves up to RGV management, the red and yellow uniforms replace the current ones. That should do the trick.

 

We would not be a lottery team if we had Martin all season.

 

We can all fool ourselves and feel good about how this team has done w/o Yao. But the supporting cast are not strong enough and Yao isn't going to be the same. Lakers w/o Kobe is probably still a west playoff team and Cavs w/o Lebron still can beat many playoff teams.